BigWords

The Aeneid. I swear I'll get around to it one of these days, but it's not the easiest thing to approach.

I'm another book-sniffer. If enough of us join, Michelle will be forced to open a "book-kinks" subforum. Yay. Welcome to the BCF.

There are passages in William Wordsworth's The Prelude which work for me every time I read them. The whole text is online here. I also like Eliot's The Wasteland, though less so.

Thirteen posts and no mention of Gon... Funniest. Manga. EVER.

More details please. The cover doesn't strike an immediate chord, though reissues wouldn't carry the same cover. It sounds vaguely like a couple of mid-80s films, so I'm wondering if it was either adapted from, or adapted to, a novel...

I immediately thought of M.R. James and Ambrose Bierce. James is, perhaps, better as a Christmas read though...

If you think Bravo Two Zero is filled with pointless swearing, then try James Kelman's How Late It Was, How Late. Adding to the unreadability is the thick accent he writes in. It won the Man Booker Prize, so you can take a guess at how well-read the novel is...

If you want to be frightened, then Cabin Fever should do the trick. There's no big boogeyman jumping out at the teens, or lame monsters, just the progression of a disease which actually exists, and the characters' reaction to it. Failing that, A Tale Of Two Sisters.

If we're going to talk suitable Halloween music, then every single song listed here and here counts. Bonus points to anyone brave / foolhardy to listen to every single song mentioned.

I'm not sure this counts if I go specifically by the notion that it is the same film re-released theatrically, but a very good nominee for most-released film on any format has to be Night Of The Living Dead. When it was first released, due to the credits being altered at the last minute for reasons which escape me at the moment, they neglected to place a copyright notice on the final print. This led to revival shows without payment to either the distributors or George A Romero. Later, when the video boom hit, it was released by various companies simultaneously, some with the copyright shown over the film, some without the copyright notice. By the late 80s this led to Tom Savini (FX guru of Dawn Of The Dead) directing a remake starring Patricia Tallman and Tony Todd. This was slightly altered from the original script, but wasn't as successful. The early 00's (noughties? can anyone think of a better term?) the original was re-released on DVD (again, several companies competing) with the remake appearing on the shelves as well. One year's Halloween television output was notable for their being a showing of Night Of The Living Dead on various channels for over three continuous days (overlapping, so the full run of this insanity was even longer). There was talk of a further remake, but by this point in the sorry saga I had pretty much given up on keeping score of who was doing what with the film. And yes, the original is now available on BluRay, with cinema screenings still taking place occasionally... Somehow it is fitting that I write this on the verge of Halloween rolling around again.

Backtracking to the comment about Cell being a like-it-or-loathe-it book, anyone interested in zombies should read through the first chapter alone, which contains one of the best set-up sequences of all zombie horror fiction. The rest of the novel... Not so much. By the time the zombies I had lost interest. The first thrust of the story propels it forward excellently though. It isn't the first time King has tackled zombies, as there is a short called The Reach - which uses Romero-zombies to great effect - in an earlier collection. I don't have the book to hand, but I believe it to be from a collection of similar zombie short stories. There are also a slew of small press and indie publishers which work exclusively within the zombie sub-genre. I'm still working on my definitive list of every zombie novel ever written... ETA: This should help anyone looking for zombie books. I'm always on the look-out for new additions, and it isn't complete yet, but I'm working on it.

Hannah Moskowitz has probably covered every single contentious topic in her YA work, or is working it into future novels, and her blog (which has some very interesting views on YA literature in general) should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the genre.

In historical settings as well? The (and yes, I know I'm going to spell this wrong) Egyptian-set Mamur Zapt series? Someone else must have read those, so I'll let them post the correct spelling.

The Dummies books can be hit and miss - some are really useful, whilst others are weighed down by the necessity to impart information needed though not entirely central to the core of the book. If it is languages you are specifically interested in, then take a few minutes to look through the Rosetta Stone book and CD packs. They seem to have a very good success rate from everyone who has used them.

Does Churchill's travelogues count? I can't remember how young he was when he wrote them, but they evoke a certain youthful tone. True, they have dated somewhat, but the historical notes which are peppered throughout the material makes it a very interesting read.

Radcliffe's The Mysteries Of Udolpho is right up there with the best. The Yellow Wallpaper, whilst quite short, is also worth looking at. I'm not sure if many people really know about it, but I heartily recommend The Mummy by Jane Webb, an antidote to some of the muted and somber material. You should also try your best to read Transformation by Mary Shelley, mentally placing it alongside Frankenstein as a precursor to many of the elements which would go on to become thematic emblems of the genre.

Gutenberg Australia also has ebooks (out of copyright) which are more culturally specific to the region. There are also authors who give free copies of some texts from their blogs and / or websites, so it is a good idea to look at them from time to time.

I will not click through. I will not click through. I will not click through. I will not click through. I will not click through. Must... Remain... Strong...